John E. Holston, Sr.

John Emory Holston, Sr., 88, was called home by his Heavenly Father on Saturday, January 12, 2019, while in a local care facility.

Born in Waynesboro, Mississippi to Tillman Early Holston and Mittie Inez Breland Holston, Mr. Holston lived a life of service.  One of the oldest licensed funeral directors in the state of Louisiana, he worked for J. E. Hixson and Sons from 1952 until 1971 as a funeral director and ambulance driver.  He was involved in the recovery of Cameron Parish following the devastation of Hurricane Audrey in 1957.  In 1971, he founded Holston Ambulance Service, which he operated with his wife for 26 years, retiring in 1998.  Mr. Holston was a 32^nd Degree Mason and a fifty-year member of the Rudolph Krause Lodge and a Shriner and member of the Habibi Temple.  He was an active and faithful member of Christian World Ministries.  He participated in all types of medical and missionary works, and was particularly active in Way of the Cross Ministries, sending clothes, toys, beans and hundreds of bicycles to Mexico and Central America.

Those left to mourn his loss and cherish his memory are his wife, Margurite “Peggy” Holston; children, Patti Williford and husband Bob of Arlington, Texas, John E. Holston, Jr. and wife Susan of Lake Charles, and Mary Monroe and husband Jeff, also of Lake Charles; one brother, Montay Holston, and John’s twin sister, Jean Humphrey, both of Mobile, Alabama; seven grandchildren; and twelve great grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his parents; one brother, Tillman Holston; one sister, Mittie Dobson; a beloved granddaughter, Mallory Elizabeth Monroe; and by the mother of his children, Mary McRae Holston.

A celebration of Mr. Holston’s life will be at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, January 16, 2019 at Johnson Funeral Home.  Pastor Jerry Snider will officiate.  Interment will be at Prien Memorial Park.  Visitation will be on Tuesday from 4 until 8 p.m. and on Wednesday from 8 a.m. until service time.

The family would like to express their grateful appreciation for the compassionate care given their beloved husband and father to Dr. Peter Karam, Dr. Clifford Courville, Dr. Carl Nabours, Ralph Hayes, NP, and to the staff and rehabilitation specialists of The Guardian House.